“Wonderful” and “a blessing” were the words Pastor Eric used to describe the congregation of Saint Matthew Church when I met with him in early October. He had willingly agreed to an interview to talk about his first year as our pastor.
The Rev. Dr. Eric Trozzo was called to be the pastor of our congregation, beginning September 1, 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic. He admitted this has been his greatest challenge – getting to know people in such a time as this. He had been a co-pastor with his wife Wendolyn in North Jersey (Chatham) for several years but did not know much about Saint Matthew except it was a large congregation. He obviously did not know how we do things, and when people ask if we are doing “such and such”, he has to find out what that is and how it is done. Added to that challenge is how to do things when we can’t follow the usual patterns because of Covid19. Thus, the words “unpredictable” and “uncertainty” also described his first year. Saint Matthew is the first church he has served as solo pastor and that has been challenging. Preaching every Sunday means less time for pastoral visits. He likes to bounce ideas off people and he has not had those opportunities so easily.
There were certainly some highlights of the past year. Pastor Eric included the first time back for in-person worship after the long winter hiatus; the Christmas Eve virtual worship service that many people had worked hard on to make it possible; gleaning times with the Green Team in the outdoors and the outdoor worship, especially the Confirmation Service in the evening before Easter, which the students helped to plan. Disappointments included the emergence of the Delta variant which meant wearing masks at all times inside the building and no serving of food. Also, some activities planned for the fall could not happen.
Pastor Trozzo is a native of Cumberland, MD. He received his BA in History from Loyola University in Baltimore and a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH. He chose Drew University in Madison, NJ for his doctoral studies because of its courses in ecological theology. Since I had never heard of this theology, I asked for an explanation. He described it as “the importance of nature in God’s creation – how we speak about God as creator of the world and it matters how we treat it.” He has lived/worked in mountains, desert, by seashore and in various types of climates which he feels have helped inform him in how we take care of God’s creation.
He received his PhD. in Theological and Philosophical Studies in May 2011. He has published two books and was editor for two others; written journal articles and chapters in books as well as given many academic paper presentations. He recently did a virtual presentation at Oxford University on a chapter he wrote for a book to be published next year. He is an Honorary Research Associate at the Lutheran seminary in Australia, which means he supervises some graduate students and has access to the seminary’s online library resources.
Pastor Eric met his wife Wendolyn when they worked together at a Lutheran summer camp in Maryland. While they were engaged, they spent 10 months (the winter season, October -June) in Christian Ministry in Big Bend National Park in the Texas desert. They were married two days before beginning their seminary studies. Wendolyn is pastor at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Tabernacle. They have two teenage sons, Dante and Cade, who are much happier this year than last when they were new in the area and had to attend school virtually, not able to meet other students or participate in activities. The family bought a house in Shamong, a more rural area, with a big yard, and they have been enlarging their deck and making other home improvements. They are “putting down roots” and feeling more like this is home for them.
The Trozzo family returned to the USA in 2019 after 7½ years in Malaysia (a 30 to 36 hour flight away), where Pastor Eric served as a Missionary Professor through ELCA Global Missions. He was a Lecturer in Theology, Philosophy and Ethics at Sabah Theological Seminary. He also traveled to various churches to preach and hold seminars on “what it means to be Lutheran in your country”. In addition he helped develop the newly formed Lutheran Study Center with three goals: to develop local leadership, to find needed resources, and to secure training for local pastors/leaders. All the goals were achieved before he left the country.
The seminary is interdenominational but is owned by Lutherans. All Lutheran students have a class in Lutheran Confessions. Both “The Book of Concord” and Luther’s “Small Catechism” were translated into Malay and enough copies printed for every Lutheran family. Students speak 3 languages: English, Malay and Mandarin Chinese. Faculty are required to teach in 2 languages. He learned enough Malay to teach theology but Wendolyn is much more proficient in “everyday” Malay for purchasing items at the markets. Dante and Cade attended school under the British educational system; Wendolyn studied at the seminary and received a Masters degree.
Sports were not emphasized as they are in America; however, Dante and Cade, along with Wendolyn became certified divers with much experience in the coral reefs. The Trozzo family lived for 4 months in India where Pastor Eric taught at a seminary. He said it was a totally different experience, with people everywhere—overwhelming at times.
Pastor has spent so much time in academia as a student, a professor and doing extensive research that I was curious whether he misses that and if it has been difficult to adapt to congregational ministry. He thinks a scholar and a pastor inform each other. He believes he is a better pastor for being involved in education and a better educator because he is a pastor. When asked how he balances his ministry, family life and personal time for study and relaxation, he replied, “Every day presents its own challenge.” Friday, his “sabbath,” is reserved for family and home life. Monday mornings are “date time” with Wendolyn when they enjoy time together and sometimes go out for breakfast. Traveling has been a big part of his life and he has visited almost 40 countries. Other interests include hiking, watching baseball and live music of all types, playing board games and reading (especially, nature writing and science fiction/fantasy novels).
My final question for Pastor Eric was, “How do you view the role of Church in a country so divided as ours and with so much hatred, anger and lack of respect for each other, for the law, for government, etc.?” He quickly and confidently replied, “The church brings different people together. It is the place to look at each other, to hear what each is saying and to seek God’s intentions for us. It is a place for healing. The church can look at what is going on locally and make a difference locally.” During the next year he hopes Saint Matthew Church will come back together. He wants to have discussions on what God is calling us to do as church and discern what God can do through our gifts as a congregation.
We pray God’s blessings on you, Pastor Eric, as you continue to guide us to do what we can as “a community of disciples reaching out through Christ in loving worship, witness and service.”